The Count Down
by ReKoJ
Summary: A New Years' Eve that changes everything.


Hotch/Prentiss; countdown to midnight, 12 wishes, and a very drunk uncle

Emily Prentiss had plans and they had been fairly decent plans. The only problem was that she had gotten stuck watching over her uncle. She wasn't that surprised, every New Years' Eve, someone out of the family had the not so pleasant task of watching drunk Uncle Pete. If she had one wish for New Years' it would be that someone else had gotten stuck with Uncle Pete. As it was, he was sitting in her living room, bitching about how no body really cared about him, while drinking from an almost full bottle of Jack Daniel's. She had been hoping that by the time that he had been dropped off at her house, he would have drunk himself into oblivion. As she sat on her couch she knew that this wasn't the case.

Meanwhile, Aaron Hotchner paced outside the door to her house. He knew that what he was doing was more than a little creepy. He didn't understand himself. He just didn't understand why he couldn't talk to her like she was a normal person. It wasn't that he couldn't talk to her when they were at work, his problem happened when he was talking to her or attempting to talk to her outside of work. He found himself acting in much the same way the same way that he had when he had first met Haley. He knew that with it being New Years Eve, he would just have to bit the bullet and tell her exactly how he felt. If she decided to switch to a different unit after that, that was her business.

Emily was just as startled, as her drunken uncle was when there was a knock on her door. She was startled yes, but she really wasn't that surprised. She had made plans to meet with J.J. and Garcia that night. So when she opened the door she had expected it to be one or both of her friends, she was completely unprepared for it to be Aaron Hotchner. She had known for a while that Aaron was attracted to her, she'd been attracted to him as well, and it was just that she hadn't seen the point of complicating an already tense situation. So she had opted to do nothing. And now she was face-to-face with him and completely speechless.

"Hotch. What are you doing here?" She had never seen him look so lost before. It was weird, she was so used to seeing him in control of everything, knowing what needed to be done and giving orders to ensure that everything had gone smoothly.

He ran his hand through his hair. He was regretting his decision to go on with his plan. He could have been at home, watching the New Years' Eve festivities on television and not having to feel like such a fool. He had no idea what in the hell he had been thinking. He knew that it was too late to go back, he knew that it would only make things worse. That and he knew that telling her exactly how he felt was part of his 12 wishes that he had to fulfill before the stroke of midnight.

"I just wanted to see why you weren't at the party…." He said lamely.

Prentiss glanced at her watch. It wasn't nearly as late as she had thought. She did think that it was odd that he was asking her about that right now. She shook her head; she had already figured that this was about something else entirely. "Hotch, it's not even 10 pm yet, what is this really about?"

There was a sudden loud bang. It was loud enough that it made them both jump. She sighed as she peeked around the corner. She was relieved and unsurprised that Uncle Pete had finally drunk himself into a black out. "I'm sorry about that. That's Uncle Pete. Seeing as I am stuck babysitting any plans that I had had is completely out of the question."

Hotch nodded. "If you wanted the company.." He left the rest of his sentence blank. He was giving her more than enough time to tell him no. Hotch had a sneaky suspicion that no matter what he did, something bad was going to happen.

Emily could see that in his eyes. She used to think that it was his job that made him paranoid. Now she realized that was a small part of it. The bigger portion of that was just the way that Aaron was. She knew what she needed to say and now she understood that if she waited any longer then it would probably never get said. She understood just how badly he would need to hear what she had to say.

"I want you to stay with me, I think that there are things that we need to discuss." She stepped the side and he walked into her house. It was the first time that he had ever been inside any of the team members' houses. He doubted that every team member had a drunken man on the floor of their living rooms. She led them into the kitchen where she poured them each a glass of red wine. She knew that for the conversation that they were going to have it would be a good idea for alcohol to be present.

He took a sip from the glass that she had placed in front of him. "I know what you're thinking. You think that I'm pathetic because you found me standing in front of your house. You know that I have something that I need to tell you but you know that sooner or later I will have to tell you because I know that if I don't then I will more than likely go crazy."

She shook her head. She knew that he was probably confused. She had known that he would come; or at least she had known on some unconscious level that he would. There had been a rumour floating around the BAU that he liked her. He was just too afraid to say anything; he was terrified that something bad would happen to her. But like Garcia always said, in this job when you found love and happiness you took it and held on it to.

He was looking into her eyes and she knew that if she didn't say something soon she would lose her nerve. They both spoke at the same time…

"I love you."

For the longest time after it was said they were quiet. They were just staring at the other person. They could hear the television in the other room. She drained her glass as she heard the count down start. She knew that it was now or never.

"12. I wish that my Uncle Pete wasn't a drunk and that he hadn't been just dropped off at my doorstep like he was an unwanted piece of luggage.

11. I wish that he would stop asking me when I'm going to get married.

10. I really wish that my mother would stop commenting on every male member of my team.

9. I wish that I could have better control over my emotions, especially when my romantic interests are involved.

8. I wish that I wasn't completely confused every time Reid opens his mouth to say anything.

7. I wish that I could quit being jealous of Morgan and Garcia's relationship that they are keeping a secret…or at least they think that they are.

6. I wish that I could quit seeking other people's approval.

5. I wish that I could be comfortable in my own skin.

4. I want to be able to understand why people do what they do.

3. I want to be bale to not feel like everyone is against me, watching me and just waiting for me to screw up.

2. I want to tell you that Haley dying was not your fault. There was nothing that you could have done to prevent it. You know as well as I do that he probably already had it planned out, perfectly before we even realized that she or Jack were in any danger.

1…."

Before she could finish her sentence he leaned over and kissed her. As the clock chimed midnight, Aaron grabbed her hand. "What was you're 12th wish?"

She blushed. "To kiss you before the New Year."

He smiled and kissed her again. "Happy New Year."

The End


End file.
